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GASB 77, Tax Abatement Disclosures Reporting Requirements Written by Tracy Arner and John Hulsey
In August 2015 the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) released statement 77, Tax Abatement Disclosures This standard requires state and local governments for the first time to disclose information about tax abatement agreements for reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2015.
Tracy Arner, CPA Financial Management Program Manager Carl Vinson Institute of Government
John Hulsey, CGFM Public Service Assistant Carl Vinson Institute of Government
Why GASB 77 is Important Tax abatement agreements are often used by a government to encourage new development, redevelopment of blighted areas, and job creation and retention. These agreements result in foregone revenue for a period of time. Prior to Statement 77, there were no required disclosures to communicate the forgone revenue to consumers of health, and revenue capacity to make informed decisions, had to make inquiries of management to discern foregone revenues resulting from tax abatement/tax incentive agreements. The disclosure requirements of GASB 77 will to better understand the impact these agreements have on a government’s revenue.
GASB 77 and the Rest of the Story While GASB 77 will shed light on the amount of foregone revenues resulting from tax abatements/incentives, statements?” Many jurisdictions are concerned that the disclosures are unbalanced because they fail to take into
the GASB concluded that “it was not an objective of the Statement to provide information needed to evaluate the effectiveness of tax abatement programs and, therefore, did not modify the disclosure requirements to include
disclosures by including information in the introductory section of the report (transmittal letter) about favorable Alternatively, a government may be able to include limited information in Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A), a part of Required Supplementary Information (RSI), under the heading “Economic Factors and Next factual information. Meaning information that is known as of the date of the independent auditor’s report, and expected to have a industry that signed an agreement to locate a new plant within the jurisdiction as well as the number of jobs created. Also, it would be appropriate to discuss any major changes in the property tax base within this section.
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How is the Term Tax Abatement Defined? A reduction in tax revenues that results from an agreement between one or more governments and an individual or entity in which (a) one or more governments promise to forgo tax revenues to which they are otherwise entitled and (b)
exclude any particular type of tax-reduction arrangement (for example, PILOTs, payments in lieu of taxes). Rather, A transaction’s substance, not its form or title, is a key factor in determining whether the transaction meets the Therefore, when reviewing various tax incentive agreements governments should look at substance over form when deciding which agreements to disclose. Moreover, it is recommended that you discuss the various agreements for inclusion with legal counsel and your independent auditor.
Transparency through Disclosure
1. Descriptive information to include •
Names and purposes of tax abatement programs
• •
Authority under which tax abatement agreements are entered into
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Criteria that make a recipient eligible to receive a tax abatement
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Mechanism through which taxes are being abated o
How the tax abatement recipient’s taxes are reduced, such as through a reduction of assessed value
o •
Provisions for recapturing abated taxes, if any, including conditions under which abated taxes become eligible for recapture
•
Types of commitments made by the recipients of the tax abatements (GASB 77, para. 7.a.)
2. Reduction of tax revenues for the reporting period due to tax abatements using the accrual basis of accounting (GASB 77, para. 7.b.) 3. Amounts received or receivable from other governments in association with foregone tax revenue:
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Names of the governments
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Authority under which taxes were or will be paid
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Dollar amount received or receivable from other governments (GASB 77, para. 7.c.)
4. Commitments made as part of the tax abatement that do not involve reducing taxes (GASB 77, para. 7.d.); 5. Description of quantitative threshold used to determine tax abatements disclosed individually (GASB 77, para. 7.e.) 6. Description of tax abatement information omitted for legal purposes including the legal citation that authorizes the omission (GASB 77, para. 7.f.) In addition to tax abatements entered into by the reporting government, additional disclosures are required for tax abatements authorized by other governments that affect the reporting government’s tax revenues. The required disclosures are essentially the same as those listed above except as follows (GASB 77, para. 8) •
Descriptive information including the names of governments entering into the tax abatement
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No requirement to disclose commitments other than to reduce taxes
Those governments with discretely presented components units which have entered into tax abatement agreements should disclose the associated foregone revenue under the provisions of paragraph 7 if the information is essential to fair presentation. Otherwise, disclosure needs to agree with paragraph 8.
General Disclosure Principles (GASB 77, para. 5) a.
Disclosures should distinguish between tax abatements resulting from the reporting government’s agreements and those agreements entered into by other governments that reduce the reporting government’s tax revenues.
b. Disclosures may be provided individually or may be aggregated. c.
Disclosure information, presented individually or in the aggregate, for the reporting government should be organized by major tax abatement program.
d. Disclosure information, presented individually or in the aggregate, for other governments should be abated. e. Disclosures should commence in the period in which a tax abatement agreement is entered into and continue until the agreement expires.
Where do I Start? The best place to start is to identify all the agreements you have that may require reporting under the new Standard. You can begin the process by making inquiries of the city or county clerk, manager, administrator, chief appraiser, tax commissioner, development authority attorney, and city or county attorney. While these individuals may be able to provide you with various agreements, you want to ensure that your list is complete. Best practice for identifying existing tax abatement and PILOT agreements follows: 1. Obtain any attorney opinion letters indicating the legal authority under which the city/county entered into the tax abatement arrangement 2. Obtain a listing of properties in the name of the development authority through which the abatement 3. Request that the list identify properties and their respective valuations that the tax assessors are billing under various tax abatement agreements or Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreements 4. Obtain a listing from the tax commissioner of the actual tax bills issued for the year for the properties provided by the tax assessor
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to the list of properties in the name of the development authority
6. Obtain copies of tax abatement and PILOT agreements (development authority attorney is a good source for this information) 7. If there is a private revenue bond outstanding but no tax abatement, determine whether 100% of the taxes due have been billed to the private entity for the year 8. Determine whether the amount of property taxes billed to the private entities with a current tax abatement agreement is correct per the agreement 9. Review properties on the list at the end of the prior year to determine if any of the abatement agreements and/or industrial revenue bonds have expired 10. If agreements have expired, ensure the property is no longer in the name of the development authority, has been transferred back to the private entity, and is included in the current year digest valuation for proper billing of taxes 11. Calculate the dollar amount of property taxes not billed (abatement amount) for the current year as a result of valid abatement agreements Preparing for the required disclosures of this statement will help ensure a government is aware of current tax abatement revenue effects, and is in compliance with current agreements (taxes are being billed correctly according to the agreements), thereby simplifying the process of adding the abated property to the tax digest when the abatement period expires.
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